I priced it on ebay, and the posted cost of shipping is nuts for something so small and light.

MClark, thanks for the suggestion, but that's even more expensive than the Plastruct stuff.

How much was the shipping cost from the ebay site ??
If the site is doing the shipping calculations ( and has the correct information to work with ) it's usually fairly accurate..
The ebay site may be your best bet, I don't think it would be any less expensive for you if I did the shipping..

I’ll try. It was in a bunch of stuff I just moved out of my garage so it’ll take a couple days to find it. As I recall it’s probably about 3/32 inch and a translucent (cloudy) green.

Thanks! 3/32" likely would work... not much bigger though.

Originally Posted by Onebadhawk

How much was the shipping cost from the ebay site ??
If the site is doing the shipping calculations ( and has the correct information to work with ) it's usually fairly accurate..
The ebay site may be your best bet, I don't think it would be any less expensive for you if I did the shipping..

Teddy

Shipping for a pack that costs $6.53 is $3... If I were to try to combine shipping and get a pack of each color the cost is >$24.

But I only need a couple of inches. The packs are only sold in packs of ten 10 inch long rods. A short length taped to a piece of paper and mailed like a standard letter would likely cost a lot less.

Originally Posted by timbucktoo

dude, do they fish in China? Go to bait/tackle store & buy some mono filament. Or even weed wacker line. Be creative!

Do they fish? Yes.... However, I don't. I'd never thought to check there. I'll see if I can find one. Weed wackers? People here don't live in suburbs... They live in either high rises (like I do (31 floors) or older, shorter apartment buildings (4-6 stories). A few live in Hutong neighborhoods, but none of these areas feature grass, it's a very urban area. There is also nothing like a Home Depot around here, and Walmart closed a year and a half ago.

If I can find the string trimmer line (I checked the shop; itís not there. Next stop storage unit) and if it works as a bit of a light guide, and if itís not too large, Iíll just put it into a padded envelope and mail it with an international postage stamp to you. If all the conditions are met Iíll request your mail address.

dude, do they fish in China? Go to bait/tackle store & buy some mono filament. Or even weed wacker line. Be creative!

Thanks for the suggestion!

I finally found a place that sells fishing supplies. I didn't have to look for monofilament line that would fit the bill because I found short lengths of line wrapped around fluorescent plastic packaging including a small plastic nub that would fit the bill. I found one of the leaders had been lost (or stolen) but the packaging was left behind. I asked a clerk if I could have it, and was told yes. If I had to buy one... it would have cost me a whopping 6 RMB (slightly less than a buck).

While it's not 1/16" OD, It was pretty close, and I did have a drill bit that worked. It only had one tab (the other was broken). I'm hoping that I'll be able to do "stretched sprue" to make one for the new light (once it arrives). Still, I'm back in business with one of my lights.

One of the lessons learned. Do the mod ASAP with new lights. Another lesson... Don't lose valuable, hard to replace, lights in the first place.

Not sure if y’all have any gun shops in China (don’t know your countries laws) but you can grab a piece of fiber optic that we use in gun sites for a little of nothing. They measure out at .058 inches or 1.45mm and are very bright.

Not sure if y’all have any gun shops in China (don’t know your countries laws) but you can grab a piece of fiber optic that we use in gun sites for a little of nothing. They measure out at .058 inches or 1.45mm and are very bright.

Nope... No gun shops here. I see guns occasionally held by armored car personnel, but they're not something that every Tom, Dick, or Harry can get. And, with the fishing supplies I found I'm set unless (God Forbid) I lose another one.

China does have a huge amount of Airsoft products and likely the gun sites mentioned above to go with it.

What exactly does the fluorescent rod do though? I use a lot of the cree LED bike lights for mountain biking at night, but can't see a little dot being particularly visible to cars.

Airsoft they do have... However, I didn't know of those products for real guns, as I'm not into guns (or seriously into airsoft anymore for that matter). Besides, I've now found what I needed. So, I'm good.

The rod lets me know that the CREE LED that is illuminating the road is working without having to let go of the handlebars/brakes and put a hand in front of it. When it's wet and dark out, sometimes you can't tell if your light is really on. I've had Niterider indicator lights that showed that the light was charged and working. However, the actual headlight (typically a Halogen light (and in one case a LED light)) wasn't, and I couldn't tell because of the wet conditions. I was a Niterider fan for years but now I'm sold on Cygolite's Expilion 850 light. Niterider's lights were good, much better than cheaper lights such as CatEye and Bell, but I seemed to be sending them in for repairs way too often.

The Cygolite's biggest draw is the end user swappable internal battery. When NiteRider's batteries would die (as in not take a charge anymore), it was cheaper to just replace the whole unit with another system than replace it (and technology was advancing considerably with brighter and brighter lights that had longer run times). The last straw was when my Cordless Minewt 600's battery died, and I couldn't replace the battery for less than a replacement. The electronics were good, and the light was bright, but blowing that amount of cash just to buy a battery was insane. Another advantage with the Expilion was that if the light went flat (and I had purchased a replacement battery stick) I could swap it out in the field and keep going. I never did buy the extra battery though. Now I might. I'll add that none of my NR lights lasted for more than a couple of years. My Expilions have been maintenance free for about 3 1/2 years. Had I not lost the old one, I'd eventually have needed to replace the battery (thought it was still giving me good run times when I lost it), but I doubt that the light would have failed me for years to come.

And the photo below shows how many NR lights I had by the end of things (about 10 years worth). Yes, that is my bike, and those are all my lights, and I actually rode like this (as a joke). I usually rode with one or two headlights on the helmet, and up to 4 on the handlebar/handlebar extender. It took a lot of dollar store D cell batteries to get the old halogen systems up and working again for that ride (thus a further use of the handlebar bag I made for Cycle Oregon 2009). Top left was a laser from an airsoft gun I had at one time. Those lights are now in storage, and can be dragged out when I get back to the states for another "be seen" night ride.